


Just a crush - Ruthari college au

by JustantotherGabrielle



Category: The Dragon Prince (Cartoon)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Crushes, F/F, F/M, Fluff, I don't know how to tag okay I'm new to this, I just wanted to write some Ruthari fanfic on my own okay, Laidrin, M/M, Mutual Pining, Ruthari fluff, ruthari
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-13
Updated: 2020-04-25
Packaged: 2021-02-28 05:22:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 11,156
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22698571
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JustantotherGabrielle/pseuds/JustantotherGabrielle
Summary: When Runaan agreed on going to that party he had no idea it would result in a new crush on a guy from his dorm. But all it took were two late-coming friends, one misunderstanding and one party.It's basically what the title says. It's based on one Tumblr post where somebody asked about the best bromance and tdp official answered that Lain and Runaan and that Lain encouraged Runaan to express his affection to Ethari and I just thought about this so...
Relationships: Amaya/Janai (The Dragon Prince), Corvus/Opeli (The Dragon Prince), Ethari/Runaan (The Dragon Prince), Lain/Tiadrin (The Dragon Prince)
Comments: 8
Kudos: 52





	1. First interaction

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys, so at first, this is my first time ever writing real fanfic. Also, I'm not that good at remembering details, so I might get something wrong. And I'm not a native speaker since English is my second language so I apologize for every mistake and bad sounding writing.

Runaan closed the door behind him and sighed. The college has been a bit more exhausting than he expected. But it was way better than being in his hometown and with all that happened to chase him every single day.

After he made himself some kind of snack, decided what music he will listen to while doing all he needs to do, he sat down and opened a textbook about the history of moviemaking. But the second, he started reading his phone buzzed. It was his best friend, who he knew almost all his life, Lain.   
He, Runaan and Tiadrin, his other friend, who had the dirtiest mouth, even though she was a girl, were really close since childhood, and they went through middle school and high school together. Now they were also on the same college, although they didn't have the same specializations. Runaan studied photography and film arts, Lain studied programming and Tiadrin studied liberal arts.

Lain was texting him about a party someone has been throwing today. A party? Again? Runaan thought. But it was better than those loads of work. And he could still do them tomorrow since it was Friday. His run of thoughts stopped at this. Since when did he become so irresponsible? He was usually the one who stayed home the whole night because he had a lot to do and he avoided people as much as he can. Maybe he finally realized he needed more friends or to start looking for something even more. Whatever it was, it made him text Lain, answer positively on his question of whether he will go, close the book and put on some fancier clothes.

Just a few minutes later he found himself waiting for Lain and Tiadrin in front of his dorm and impatiently tapping his foot. Suddenly he heard steps behind his back.

“Finally! What took you so long?” he started to say while he was turning around only to look into the face of complete stranger. The said stranger only lifted the corners of his mouth in amusement and said: “Oh, sorry, you know, my roommate was being a douche again and he was being in the bathroom too long.” Runaan's cheeks turned red. “I-I'm sorry, I thought…” his apology was cut in half by Tiadrin's loud yell.

“Runaan! Hey! Sorry, we let you wait, there was an emergency.”

“By emergency, she means her clumsiness,” explained Lain, who was walking right next to her, with a smirk.

“Shut up!” hissed Tiadrin and punched her boyfriend to the shoulder. Just at that moment, they realized that next to their friend was another man. 

“Ethari? I didn't know you were friends,” wondered Tiadrin. 

“Oh, we aren't. He just happened to yell at me because of being late so I guess he knows me but I don't really know him,” explained asked guy, Runaan supposed his name was Ethari. Quite weird but he didn't get to say anything, with a name Runaan and friends named Lain and Tiadrin.

Tiadrin scrunched her eyebrows and slowly turned to her friend.

“Runaan? What the hell?” the threatening undertone in her voice made Runaan a bit scared.

“Well, you guys were late and I heard footsteps behind me and I started talking before I looked who was coming,” he tried to explain the misunderstanding.

“So you don't know each other?” asked Lain.

“Nope, I actually never met you before,” Ethari turned to Runaan and stick out his hand for a shake. “I'm Ethari, nice to meet you.”

Runaan chuckled and shake his hand. “I'm Runaan, I'm sorry about earlier.”

“Nah, that's fine,” Ethari waved his hand nonchalantly.

“So, it was nice to meet you, Ethari, but I guess we should get going or the party's gonna end before we're even gonna get there. And I don't want to regret leaving my comfy bed,” stated Runaan.

“Oh, what party? That one at Amaya's place? I'm heading there too, but I have to do just a bit of my homework or I know I'll regret it tomorrow,” said Ethari.

“You're going too? That's great, maybe we'll meet there,” exclaimed Tiadrin.

“Yeah, that would be cool. Well, I'm gonna start that homework. See ya,” waved Ethari his hand in goodbye and left.

“Okay… so, are we going?” suggested Lain.

“Yeah, yeah, sure,” Runaan tried to tear off his look from the door, where Ethari had disappeared, while Tiadrin gave him a knowing smirk. But she didn't comment and they headed to the entrance of the campus and into the city. 

After a while of silent walking, Tiadrin broke the silence. At the moment she opened her mouth Runaan knew, he is screwed.

“So, Runaan, dear… what do you think about Ethari?”

“What? I… well, he seems kinda cool,” he shrugged his shoulders.

“Okay but… he's cute, isn't he?”

“Hey!” spoke up the other boy.

“Don't worry love, you're still the cutest,” she assured him and poked him to the cheek.

“But Runaan hasn’t answered. What do you think?”

“Well, I, um… I refuse to answer that question,” he stumbled over his words and his cheeks went almost tomato red.

“So it's a yes,” Tiadrin took it her way.

“No!” protested Runaan. But she has probably already made out scenarios in her head about the two of them living happily ever after in a house with a garden and two cats, so he decided it was worthless to try to talk her out of it. And honestly, it wouldn't even be true if he tried to tell her that he doesn't find him cute. Because he did. A lot. Ethari was cute in a way he probably didn't even realize, but he could go through his life and girls and boys would just fall in love with him the moment he smiled. Because, damn, his smile was charming. Just like all of him. His messy light blond hair, his sparkling chocolate eyes, and his muscular arms. All of this made Runaan start maybe just a little bit crushing on him. But just a little bit.

“Hey guys, we're here,” suddenly announced Lain and ripped Runaan out of his thoughts about his new crush.

“So… what does someone do at a party?” asked Runaan.


	2. A party

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ethari's POV. He and Runaan meet at the party and they talk a lot.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You know that feeling when you say to yourself that the next chapter will be shorter than the first one? Welp... it' about a half longer... Nice work, myself.

Ethari knocked heavily on the door and waited for someone to open. He heard the loud music and chatter from the inside. The sounds of the party made him somehow relax since it was his natural habitat. He loved parties and parties loved him. He was never that kind of guy who embarrasses himself at social events, and if so, he could just laugh at himself along with the crowd, he was good at talking with people and his dancing was that terrible. Also, the fact, that his body could process alcohol well wasn't useless.

Suddenly the door opened. It was Amaya, with her cheerful smile inviting him inside. Ethari knew the sign language because she was his friend for some time and yeah, you could be friends even without talking but it wouldn't be that much fun. So he learned it. It wasn't perfect, but he could manage some conversation. So it was enough, at least for him.  
He chatted with her for a while and then dove into the crowd. For some time he was just enjoying the music and dancing for himself. But then he felt a tap on his shoulders. It was Soren, his roommate. Ethari saw his lips moving as he tried to say something but he couldn't hear him so he grabbed his arm and dragged him into the kitchen.

“Hey man! Whe-where have you been? I'm here for like… eternity.” Soren's speech was a bit tangled by quite some amount of alcohol he for sure had. His blue eyes were hazy because of the alcohol, his blond hair messy from all the dancing and probably some hooking up and his usual strong posture was way weaker from the tiredness.

“So… how much have you been drinking?” Ethari asked him with somehow a motherly tone.

“N-not that muuuch,” the other boy elongated.

“Sure. You okay? Don’t you need me to take you home?” worried his friend.

“N-nope. I'm a big boy. I can handle myself,” Soren waved it off. “You know, I saw this gorgeous man a moment ago. I'm sure you would like him,” he added with a smirk.

“Yeah, okay, I'm gonna look for him, if it makes you feel better, ok? Can you handle it by yourself?” Soren nodded. “Take it easy with the alcohol,” Ethari patted him on the back and went back to the crowd.

He then proceeded to go upstairs, because Amaya's house had this balcony thing on the second floor where you could just look at the crowd under you. He rested against the railing and sighed. He was excited about this party and even more when he learned that that handsome guy, Runaan, was attending too. He was really pretty, Ethari had to admit. Long white hair braided in a nice coiffure, azure eyes, that were shoving all his emotions he probably didn't want to show, his nice tall and muscular figure… Everything looked just perfect. Even his clothes, lavender shirt, and tight black jeans looked perfect on him. And Ethari apparently imagined that he'll just walk in and this beautiful piece of man would be there. Well, he looked closely through the crowd but he still couldn't find him.

“Hey,” someone suddenly said behind him. He must've jumped like a foot high. He tried to calm his beat down while he slowly turned around. Speaking of the devil, Ethari thought with a little laugh. The one who scared him almost to his death was no one else than Runaan.

“Well, hello,” Ethari smiled at him.

“So… did you do your homework?”

“Most of it actually. But I really wanted to go to this party and I was afraid that it would end before I come, so I dropped it,” he answered with a shrug.

“I don't think it was that much of a need to come here. I mean, it's kinda boring. And a bit of a stressing,” Runaan scowled. 

“Why would a party be stressing?” Ethari asked, not understanding. “A party is the best thing ever. You know you can meet your friends, you can make new ones, you can dance, drink a lot of alcohol… Why would any of those things be stressful?”

“Because you can also embarrass yourself in gazillion ways.”

“So? It's not like anyone would remember it the next day,” Ethari shrugged. “Most people drink that much, that the next morning they're happy they are alive.”

“Yeah… I guess you might have a point…”

“Great. Now, why don't we get some drink ourselves?”

“Good idea,” Runaan agreed and they headed back downstairs.

They pushed through the crowd back to the kitchen where all the food and drinks were kept. Soren has already left so they were alone in there. Ethari didn't mind though. He couldn't imagine it better. He and his new crush completely alone in the kitchen. He could even kiss him and later blame it on being drunk. But then it hit him. 

What if Runaan's straight? What if he has a girlfriend? Ethari couldn't just throw himself at some guy he met like two hours ago and who probably isn't even interested. He'll just gonna have to keep it in a friendly way. Of course. He could do that. It's not like Runaan was so attractive that it hurt. No way. Absolutely not.

“Hey, Ethari?” suddenly Runaan spoke up.

“Yeah?”

“What are you thinking about?”

“What? Why?”

“'Cause I can almost hear those wheels move and it's kinda disturbing,” answered Runaan with a chuckle.

“Well… I'm thinking about how I'm in the kitchen with a person I don't know and how I'd like to know more about you,” Ethari half lied. Because he would really like to know something about him but that wasn't exactly what he was thinking about.

“And what exactly would you like to know about me?” Runaan said with a teasing voice.

“So at first… what do you study?”

“Okay, this one's easy. My specialization is photography and film arts. What about you?”

“I study programming.”

“Just like Lain?”

“Yeah, that's from where we know each other. He and I were at a few parties together and we're also in the same study group. Gotta say, he's cool, but Tiadrin is way more,” Ethari laughed.

“Yeah, Tiadrin… she can be sometimes too much. But she's really nice and when she cares about someone she will do anything to help them.”

“That sounds like you're talking from experience,” Ethari's voice was scrunched worriedly.

“Yeah… teenage years we're kinda tough for me.”

“Oh, I'm sorry.”

“There's nothing to be sorry about. Bad stuff happened, but I'm here, I've got the best friends ever, I study what I love and I'm aiming at a bright future,” Runaan smiled at him.

“Well, that's great. So, the next question. Aside from photography what do you like to do?”

“Sleep. It's one of the few pleasures in this world. But I also enjoy workouts.”

“You're working out?” Ethari asked with a surprise. But it made sense, with all those muscles of his, hidden under his shirt.

“Yeah. It's kinda fun. And you can also let out all your anger. Like, you can imagine, that that punching bag is someone you don't like or teacher who rated you unfairly and you can just punch them without hurting them actually and without getting in trouble.”

“Wow. I guess I'm gonna start work outing too. It sounds fun.”

“It is,” Runaan assured him.

Suddenly the kitchen door opened and Janai walked inside. Janai was Amaya's girlfriend and one of the most beautiful people Ethari's ever met. She was also the reason he was so sure that he's gay. Because if he was just from one percent bi, he'd definitely have a thing for her. But he was what he was so he just really admired her.

“Hey, Janai. What's up?” he greeted her.

“Oh, hey Ethari. Why are you hiding in the kitchen?” she asked.

“I'm not hiding. I was just thirsty,” he explained.

“Sure… you were thirsty so that's why you're hiding in the kitchen with a handsome stranger. What's your name, dear?”

“I-I'm Runaan,” he stumbled across his words a bit. Ethari hoped it wasn't because she stunned him.

“Nice to meet you, Runaan. As much as I would wish you to enjoy each other's company because I guess you're having a good time, I'm gonna have to escort you, 'cause the party's ending. We have to clean it up here and y'all have to go to sleep. So, whoosh, go away,” she said in a friendly way.

“Well, Ethari, I guess our game of questions is over. We're gonna have to continue some other days.”

“Yeah, I guess so. Maybe we could meet someday at wherever you're exercising,” Ethari suggested.

“If so, then I'm gonna need your phone number so we can agree at the time and all,” Runaan passed him his opened phone.

“Okay… Do you always get other's numbers just by making them go with you to exercise and then excuse at the need to know the time?” Ethari asked while making new contact and typing his number.

The other boy laughed. “No, I don't really get other's numbers at all. You see, I'm not that much of a social person.”

“Oh. Well, I feel honored to be the training rabbit for you to try this trick of making new friends,” he smiled, retrieved Runaan his phone and began walking towards the exit. They said goodbye to Janai and Amaya and left.


	3. Does he like me, does he like me not...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just some thoughts and laughing at clishé scenes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, when I was thinking about what will be in the third chapter, my mind was completely blank. And then I just sat down and write this all, idk how :D

After the party, Runaan started seeing Ethari every day. They were meeting at the dorm, in the yard between the dorms, at the corridors at school and sometimes even in the city. They mostly just smiled at each other or nod their heads in silent greeting but sometimes they even said vocal hi or talked for a while. When Lain and Tiadrin were with him at these times they later teased him about it but he didn't care. Because every time it happened Runaan felt that weird feeling in his stomach. It was almost like he was sick but he knew that wasn't right. He just fell in love.

Now you might be thinking, how could he fell for someone he properly talked with for about two times? Well, the thing is, Runaan had always become quickly attached to anyone who was just a bit nice to him. 

And the Ethari's beauty didn't help it either. Every day Runaan saw him he noticed another little thing that made him even prettier. Yesterday it was that little scar he has on his upper lip. When he questioned him about it, he said with a giggly laugh that it was from when he tried to eat a stapler when he was little. Yes, Ethari giggled. And it was dam adorable. And yes, from that moment Runaan's heart flinched a little whenever he thought about tiny little Ethari trying to eat a stapler.

The next day, three weeks after the party at Amaya's he met Ethari yet again. They met in the corridor when both of them were running on a lesson. Well, not exactly met. It was more of a bump.

Runaan was running with a stack of books in his hands and just when he was turning at his other classmate, Ibis, and shouting at him to speed up, he felt something warm and soft against his body and suddenly he was on the ground. When his vision cleared he saw Ethari trying to pick Runaan's books from the floor.

“Ethari? Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to knock you down,” Runaan said as was picking himself and his books.

“I didn't mean to either. I guess you were in a hurry and in those situations people get easily distracted,” the other boy smiled and slightly blushed when he realized how close they were standing now when he got up too. Runaan's cheeks tinted to light red too and he coughed.

“You know, it's almost like at some dumb romantic movie. We bump into each other, you help me pick my books and we fall in love,” Runaan spoke up after a moment.

“Yeah. Some kind of high school type of romance. So, handsome stranger into who I just bumped, will you go on a date with me?” Ethari asked. At that exact moment, the bell rang.

“Shit. I guess we're gonna have to wait for another episode to find out my answer,” Runaan shrugged and began to run again.

“You know that we were talking about movies and these don't have episodes?” Ethari called after him.

“I don't care!” came the answer.

Later that day Runaan was in his bed thinking so much that it almost hurt. He was thinking about the question Ethari asked. Did he mean it? Or was it just a joke? He knew it was probably the second option but he couldn't put down that little flame of hope the question started inside him.

“Hey, Runaan?” his roommate, Ibis, suddenly broke the silence. He was standing in the middle of the room, his white hair with a touch of violet and dark skin were blue-toned as he was looking up from his phone.

“Yeah?”

“The date of the spring festival has been announced. March 19 to 22, with the main party being on Friday, as always. Will you come?”

“Uh, I guess I won't have a chance to not come,” Runaan laughed. “But I was already thinking about coming. I mean, it could be fun, right?”

“Yeah, it will. I'll have there a show with the falconry club and it looks pretty neat. You know, majestic birds, tons of special effects for it to be more magical… It's gonna blow your mind,” Ibis responded excitedly.

“I'm sure it will,” Runaan replied and turned on the other side to sleep. Ibis went to bed too, but after a while, he spoke up again.

“What was it in the hallway today? Y'know, with Ethari.”

“Wait you know him?”

“Sure. Everyone knows Ethari. And if not in person they at least heard about him. He's attending every party, he's telling funny jokes and he's friends with everyone. People like him are always known by everyone,” Ibis explained.

“Oh… Well, to answer you, it was just a lesson to not look back when you're running through a full corridor. And some friendly teasing,” Runaan said.

“And that blush on yours and his cheeks? That was a lesson too?” the violet haired boy asked teasingly.

“What? No, that was, that was…,” his friend was trying to come up with some kind of lie.

“You're into him, am I right?”

“Maybe…? But don't even think about telling him! It would destroy even that bud of friendship we're having now and I really like how it is now. I don't need to lose a new friend just because of my stupid crush,” Runaan sounded a bit desperate. But he really didn't want to lose him. He liked to be friends with Ethari.  
“Don't worry, I won't tell him. I don't ruin love stories with such potential,” he said with a smile.

“What potential? And how do you mean love story? There's no love story, there's just my stupid crush,” Runaan hasn't been catching up.

“Well, you think that. But I think that he likes you too. And that you should tell him.”

That made Runaan think again and as he was considering the consequences it would bring, if he confessed, he fell asleep.


	4. Preps and laughs at friends in love

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's basically what the title says, nothing more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, so, new chapter! I'm not really proud of this one but I guess it won't be any better. And yeah it's a bit shorter, but at the expense of the next one. Also, I noticed a few really bad mistakes at describing Ibis, so I'm gonna change it.

The next few days were in the sign of preparation for the spring festival since it was just in three weeks. The whole school was talking about it, clubs were preparing their shows, the decorations were beginning to suddenly appear at random places on the campus and school and the festive mood was everywhere. Ethari quite enjoyed it. He wasn't particularly in some club but he volunteered for the group which has been taking care of the food. It was mostly because he wanted to feel useful and he liked to do things with food but the main reason why he was there at all was that Runaan was also in said group.

Yeah, Runaan. Ethari thought about him for every second of the day. His fascinating hair, his smart eyes, his beautiful smile… Why does he have to be so pretty? Ethari was crushing on him pretty hard, even though they didn't talk that much, and all of his friends knew about it. They were kinda annoyed by his nonstopping chanting about him but mostly they were teasing him about everything that happened between them. And that it was quite something to talk about in the past week. 

After that incident on Monday in the hallway, he was really unsure what to think about whatever was going on between them. Because he saw the blush on Runaan's cheeks. And he was also pretty sure about his own.

He and Runaan met again on Thursday and it was… quite interesting to say at least. Ethari was just sitting at the bench near his dorm when he suddenly saw Runaan coming with Lain. They were just talking about something and it seemed Runaan was getting quite uncomfortable. And when he noticed Ethari he seemed to get actually nervous. When Lain noticed him too, he began to laugh and said something to his friend. He then got really red in the face and mumbled something in answer at what Lain started to laugh even more and then brotherly tapped Runaan at the shoulder. And then he started to walk towards Ethari.

“Hello, dear friend!” he greeted him.

“Good afternoon, Lain. How are you?” answered Ethari.

“Really well actually. You know the sun is shining, birds are singing and I can make fun out of my best friend. What else would make it even perfect?” He asked rhetorically and sat down at the bench next to Ethari.

“Oh, why are you making fun out of poor Runaan?”

“I would say he's back in his teenage years again,” Lain laughed. At those words, Ethari's eyebrows scrunched in confusion. But before he could ask what did he mean by it, Runaan walked over to them.

“Well, good afternoon to you too, Runaan. Glad you decided to join us,” Ethari addressed him.

“Uhm, good afternoon too. Mind if I sit there?” he nodded to the place on Ethari's other side. When he nodded in agreement, he sat down. He was now so close as he's never been and it drove Ethari crazy. His heart started beating so fast and loud he was afraid Runaan could hear it and the butterflies in his stomach were tickling so much he could barely take it. But he still managed to somehow keep a steady face.

“So, how are you d-doing?” Runaan asked and stumbled a bit at his words.

“Good. But I have to ask, what were you doing over there?” he motioned his head to the place where the two of them were standing previously.

At that Runaan began to blush again and Lain snickered.

“N-nothing in-interesting,” the blushing boy stuttered.

“Okay… but you seem really uncomfortable. Is there anything I can do?”

“I would know what you could do…,” Lain smirked. Runaan immediately slapped his hand at his friend's mouth with angry 'shh.' Ethari was probably looking very confused at that moment, so Runaan put away his hand and shrugged.

“You don't have to worry about anything, Ethari. I'm perfectly fine. Lain here just thinks that me liking someone is a great thing to make fun of,” he explained. At that point, Ethari's mind stopped working. Runaan likes somebody. So he doesn't have a chance. Because he from his own experience knew, that you can't just stop crushing someone ou of blue. It's a really painful and hard way to achieve that. 

Suddenly he noticed a blue haired girl approaching them. She looked young, but maybe it was just because of her small height. She was wearing some type of black short dress and a big smile across her face. As she was coming closer to them he noticed that her hair wasn’t exactly blue, but some kind of turquoise and that her eyes had both different colors. He was intrigued by that. It just looked so interesting and maybe… magical?

“Heterochromia,” whispered Runaan to his ear. That sound sent a shiver down Ethari's spine, even though it was just some random scientific word.

“What?” asked Ethari confused.

“That's what it's called,” Runaan half explained.

“I still… wait you mean those eyes? It has a name?”

“Yeah… it looks pretty cool, right?”

“It does,” Ethari laughed.

“Hey, guys!” the turquoise haired girl greeted when she came close enough. They waved their hands in some kind of greeting in return. “So I guess you've already heard about the spring festival, right?” she asked. The three boys nodded in agreement and she continued.

“Don't you want to help us with something? We need some help with food for the whole festival…”

“And what would it contain?” Runaan asked.

“You know, brainstorming about what all are we going to need, preparing it before the event itself and selling it there. That's why we need so many people. Most of us want to enjoy the festival and we don't want to spend it all in the stands so we need someone to exchange. So? What do you say? Will you help us?” she pouted.

“Well I don't have anything else to do anyway, so I would say I could,” Lain spoke up. “And I could possibly even convince my girlfriend, Tiadrin,” he suggested.

“That would be great! The more people, the more time for fun! And what about you guys?” she turned to the two other boys.

“I think I'll join too. You have to support the effort, right? What about you, Ethari?” Runaan asked him.

“It sounds fun, so I guess I'll help you too. And I could bring some more people too if it would be necessary,” he responded.

“Wait you are Ethari? The famous Ethari?” she exclaimed excitedly.

“Am I famous? I wouldn't say that, but yeah, a lot of people know me,” he said unsurely.

“That's so cool! I've heard so much about you!” she continued. “You have to clear to me so many stories!”

“I guess I will have plenty of time for that when we will be working together. So now, how do we start?”


	5. The spring festival day 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, sorry for not adding anything sooner. This was meant to be the last chapter and I also thought I'll finish it earlier but it was really hard. And during the break, it also occurred to me that I split it in half and also add epilog, so it's still gonna take some time before this whole mess will end. That's all, enjoy!

The past three weeks were the best three weeks ever. Professors lowered their high demands as they knew how much effort the students were putting into the festival and as they themselves were tired of all the stuff that came with it. Runaan spent most of his time helping everywhere he was needed and in his free time, he tried to be with Ethari as much as possible even though it was driving him crazy with all those smiles of his and those little touches. 

He also became friends with one guy from their group into what had Nyx, the turquoise haired girl, dragged them. His name was Corvus and he was really quiet. Nonetheless, he was really cool. He was good at archery and he was excellent at baking. Runaan found himself really enjoying Corvus' company because he knew a bit of everything. And he was generally easy to talk to.

Runaan also found out after a week that he liked this one girl, Opeli. She was also in their group and she was something of a leader. She was really nice and pretty and all that organizing work really fitted her. Runaan was actually really grateful that she was leading them. He also had a suspicion, that she liked him either, but she supposedly never told anyone about her love life. But he would like them to be together because he thought they would be perfect together. But that wasn't to him to decide, so he left it up to them to settle it out. He had his problems anyway.

His problems contained Lain non-stop pushing him to express his attention for Ethari and his own desire to do so. But he was really scared of the rejection, so he kept silent.

The days passed and suddenly the first day of the festival was here. Runaan woke up early, mostly because of the excitement. He honestly would never admit it to anyone, but he was genuinely excited about the whole event. He and his group alongside the rest of the school worked a lot for it to be perfect so he wanted to see if all that hard work was worth it.

He got up from his bed and looked around the room. It looked like Ibis wasn't there, he was probably already out finishing the last details to his show. So Runaan put on his clothes, a bit fancier than usual, white shirt with small black dots and black shorts, brushed his teeth and then started to try to do something with his hair. He was about halfway through when he suddenly heard knocking on the door followed by a voice that made Runaan bit dizzy and the butterflies in his stomach tickle.

“Runaan? It's me, Ethari. Can I come in?” 

Runaan for about two seconds thought about not letting him in because he didn't want to deal with his feelings longer than it was necessary but he put that thought back to his mind since it wouldn't be fair to Ethari and he actually wanted to spend more time with him.

“Sure!” he answered. At this, the doors opened. Runaan turned his head from looking into the mirror and what he saw almost made him fall from the stool he was sitting on. Ethari was wearing a dark blue short-sleeved shirt with a flower pattern, revealing his strong arms and since it was a bit more unbuttoned at the top also revealing a small part of his chest, light blue shorts, and black Vans and it looked just perfect on him. He would've never guessed that blue was his color but now seeing him he realized it totally was. He must've been staring because Ethari scrunched his eyebrows and tilted his head to the side.

“Is something wrong? I look ridiculous, don't I?” he broke the silence which has been here for some time and Runaan didn't notice it.

“W-what? No! You look… pretty good I gotta say,” he admitted with a blush creeping to his cheeks. Ethari blushed as well and cleared his throat.

“So, um… good morning, dear friend! Are you excited about the festival?” Ethari asked.

“Good morning to you too,” the other responded a bit surprised. “I… well, not gonna lie, but I am.” What was it again about never admitting to anyone that he was excited about a thing like this? It looked like with Ethari every promise he made to himself fell into pieces. That scared him. What if he wouldn't be able to keep his mouth shut and tell him about his crush? God, that can't happen!

“Are you okay, Runaan? You look like you've seen a ghost,” Ethari's worried voice stopped his flow of thoughts. He must've turned quite pale while thinking about it. Wow, really smooth, Runaan, he mentally slapped himself.

“D-don't worry, I'm fine. You know, just the stress about the festival,” he waved it off and then he turned back to the mirror to finish his complicated hairstyle. There was silence for a while during what Runaan was trying to complete the thing on his head and during what Ethari just awkwardly looking around.

Suddenly Runaan let out a resentful sound and spread his hands wide. His hair was a mess from his attempts to make it into some kind of hairstyle.

“What's wrong Runaan?” Ethari asked concerned.

“I don't know! I have been doing this every day and…,” he trailed off. What he was going to say was that there wasn't any problem 'till Ethari came, but he quickly realized how it sounded.

“Well, do you need help? I'm not a professional but I helped my niece Anya a few times so I don't think it would be that bad,” Ethari suggested.

“You would do that?”

“Sure. So, how do I start?”

After a few more minutes, few torn out hair and few sounds of pain from Runaan, he had his classic ponytail with braid resting on his back. He studied it in the mirror for a moment and then turned to Ethari and with an honest smile, he bowed a little and said: “Thank you, Ethari. It really means a lot to me.”

“No problem. Now, can we go?” Ethari smiled.

The two of them left the room and headed outside. The moment they stepped outside they were completely dragged into absolute chaos. Students were everywhere, running for God knows what reason, helping, decorating, training and overall making everything perfect. The gates haven't been open yet, but it looked like it was going to happen any minute.

“So… what exactly are we gonna do now?” Runaan asked a bit overwhelmed by all that.

“I guess we should go check on Opeli and the others. I'm sure they're gonna need our help,” Ethari suggested.

“That's right. Let's go.”

After a while, they reached the part where all the food stands were located, surrounded by their group. The first one they noticed was Nyx. You just can't miss that girl with her hair and that white-blue dress she was wearing today. And the first one who noticed them was Soren, who was also in the group with his sister, Claudia.

“Hey, guys! You excited?” he greeted them. At that moment all the others noticed their arrival and started greeting them too. 

After that, Opeli told them what each of them will be doing. Lain, Tiadrin, Nyx, Corvus, and Opeli will have the first shift in the stands and Ethari, Runaan, Soren, Claudia, and Gren, a friend of Amaya and overall pretty cool guy who was also in the group, will be there in the afternoon.

Just when they finished talking, somebody shouted: “The gates are opening!” That caused mass panic for a few seconds when everyone was trying to get to their place. When everything calmed down, Runaan could perfectly see at the entrance where a big crowd of people was entering the campus. It surprised him how many people came. He really wasn't expecting that. For a while, he stared in awe and he would still be like that if Ethari hasn't leaned to him and suggested: “We have some time now since we're working in the afternoon. Wanna go see the principal's speech?” Runaan agreed and they headed to the stage where were already tons of people waiting for the speech. Suddenly the principal came.

“Hello! Welcome everybody!” he exclaimed. “I would like to greet you to the Xadian university's Spring festival. I'm glad to see how many of you came here. My name is Harrow Katolis and I'm the principal here. If you have any questions about how the school works you can ask me at any time, I will be there among you all the time. Now please welcome the new deputy director, Mr. Aaravos Star!” The said man came to the stage and took the microphone.

“Good morning incomers!” At that moment Runaan stopped listening. He already didn't like the guy. He looked… weird. Just like the last deputy director, Viren Proctor. Runaan got always really tense when he was around. That guy just looked like a bad guy. And when he finally left his job, this guy had to show up. But he couldn't do anything about it so he decided to drop it. Instead, he focused on Ethari who didn't seem to listen to the speech either.

“Ethari?” Runaan spoke up. Ethari hummed in response. “Why don't we go look around? I'm not really interested in listening to this empty crap and you don't seem to be listening either.” Runaan suggested.

“That's a good idea. I don't even know why I wanted to come here in the first place,” Ethari responded and let himself be dragged away from the crowd in front of the stage.

After that, the two of them spent the whole morning together. They met Janai and Amaya wandering around the festival together with enamored smiles on their lips, they met Ethari's cousin Anya, who she was really nice, and they also saw “the queen” Sarai Katolis, principal's wife, that everyone knew from similar events and everyone loved her because of her awesome personality and because of how beautiful her relationship with the principal was. 

After a quick lunch, Runaan and Ethari ended at the stands and spent the rest of the day there. It was a bit exhausting but also very nice because they get to meet a lot of people.

Runaan wasn't really comfortable with that at first because of his mostly introvert personality but after some time he realized it's not bothering him that much. It was probably because of all that time he spent with Ethari. His friendly and extrovert attitude transferred to him.

When the day began to settle to an end Janai and Amaya went to see them too. They chatted (with mouth and hands) about the festival and the party, Runaan finally got to know how Ethari knows the couple - from a party obviously, and it was overall a pretty good time. The girls then left and headed home and when it came to six in the evening Runaan and Ethari closed the stands.

“Phew… what a day, right?” Ethari exhaled loudly when they were heading towards their dorm.

“Yeah, it was exhausting. But I don't think it's gonna be anymore better tomorrow. Plus the party, of course.”

“That's right, tomorrow’s the party! Will you come?” All of the previous Ethari's tiredness suddenly disappeared.

“I guess… it's not like I'm gonna have anything better to do anyway,” he shrugged.

“Oh, c'mon! I know you love parties. It was me who taught you how to enjoy them so I know it the best,” he smirked.

“Okay, I'm maybe excited like a tiny bit,” Runaan admitted.

“Ha! Knew it!”

“Oh, don't be so smug about it,” the long-haired boy scowled. Ethari started laughing at that and eventually, they both were laughing like idiots. That lasted until they arrived in front of Ethari's room. “Well, good night, then. See ya tomorrow,” Runaan said and waved a bit.

“See ya,” Ethari replied and the door closed behind him.


	6. Finally

It was the second day of the spring festival. Ethari woke up as excited as he never was. Not only he gets to spend another whole day with Runaan but there's also a party in the evening. And he decided he'll man up today and tell him how he feels. Because he knew he couldn't live like this any day longer. With that unsure feeling whether he likes him back or not. With that constant urge to kiss him at any given moment… 

A sudden knock knocked him out of his thoughts. He got up from the bed not realizing he was still in his pajamas and went to open the door.

“Good m-” Runaan lost his voice and blushed deeply. Ethari was trying to figure out what happened when it hit him. The thing is, his sleeping outfit was an old Captain America T-shirt and shorts that were probably too short. His face reddened too very quickly. “I- um, I'll wait for you outside,” Runaan suggested. Ethari nodded and practically slammed the door.

Phew. That was… that was embarrassing.  
When he opened the door again he has already changed to his favorite black T-shirt with decent flowers on the left side and the same shorts as yesterday. Runaan looked relieved over the fact that he wasn't wearing his pajamas and he smiled.

“So, good morning again, Ethari.”

“Good morning. Sorry, for… you know,” he chuckled.

“Yeah… Well, are we going? My roommate has a show with his falconry club soon and he said he'd like to see me there.”

“Sounds fun,” Ethari shrugged and let Runaan lead them to the correct place.

The show was awesome, the people from Ibis' club were really good and there were a lot of people watching with kids who were so genuinely amazed by the birds it made the whole show even better. When it ended Ibis found them in the crowd to talk a bit.

“Hey, guys! Did you like it? It was even better than yesterday!” He was smiling like an idiot.

“It was awesome, dude!” Runaan was for once showing a lot of excitement. 

“Yeah, it was so cool! How do you even teach birds something like this?” Ethari sounded amazed by it too.

“Well, you know… You give them a dead mouse here, dead chicken there… They are heckin' smart.” Ibis was trying to hide how their praise made him happy. “And what about you guys? What are your plans for today?” he asked curiously.

“We're gonna be at the food stands again but I thought we'll check the party in the evening.” Runaan looked uncertainly at Ethari.

“What? The famous Runaan who hate parties is wanting to go to a party?” Ethari laughed. “But yeah, that sounds like a good plan.”

“Great. I'm coming too so I guess we'll meet there. But I have to go now, we need to clean it up,” Ibis said and with a quick waved he left.

The two of them wandered around the campus after this for a while but the time flew fast and suddenly there was their turn to go to the stands again. They spent a big part of the afternoon there but fortunately, it was shorter because of the party in the evening and girls were complaining they didn't have time to change and put make-up on and all that stuff. Ethari was glad they had the spare time too since he had to do something with his hair which was sticking in all directions caused by the windy weather all day.

“So… I'm gonna pick you up at seven?” Runaan voiced when they were heading towards the dorms. Ethari couldn't shake off his excitement so he wasn't really walking but more of skipping and all of the tiredness he felt when they were leaving the festival was gone. He loved parties and one where he can go with Runaan? That was the best option.

“Yeah, sure.”

“Cool. So, um, see ya.” They parted and Runaan waved awkwardly. Ethari nodded and almost run to his room.

Inside was Ibis, who looked like he just came from the festival. He was spread on his bead, loose shirt, and sweatpants on, his clothes for the show lying on the chair.

“Hey! The party is soon. You coming?” Ethari greeted when he entered the room.

“Soon? It doesn't start in another hour. Chill,” the other boy looked up from his bed.

“That's soon,” the white-haired boy lectured him.

“If you say so,” Ibis shrugged and went back to staring at the ceiling. Ethari chuckled and began to go through his clothes to find something fancy enough to wear.

Exactly fifty-five minutes later, he was sitting on his bed, this time alone, Ibis left some time earlier with some of his friends from the club, and waiting impatiently for Runaan. His mind was running on light speed. Will they dance? Is what he's wearing appropriate? Will Runaan want to spend time with him? Will something happen between them? Would Runaan even want to?

He was so deep in his thoughts he didn't hear the knock so when Runaan called, “Ethari? You in there?” he was this close to falling from the bed. He quickly got up to open the door.

“Hi,” he said breathlessly. Damn, Runaan looked stunning. His shirt had the same color as his eyes which made them even brighter, he was wearing a navy bow-tie (a bow-tie!) with little white polka dots and with that he had really tight jeans and Ethari couldn't wait to see him from the back.

“Hey,” Runaan looked him up and down and what he saw made him smile wide. Ethari had his favorite outfit on, white t-shirt with words Good vibes on it, shirt with vertical black and blue stripes and his favorite ripped black jeans.

“So… you ready to dive in the whirl of the night?” Ethari leaned against the doorframe.

“I guess I have no choice right now,” Runaan shrugged and his smile grew even wider.

“Then why are we waiting for?”

When they arrived, the party has already begun. It was held at the house of Ms. Lujanne, psychology and creative arts teacher, who seemed to never age and who also loved parties. Nobody actually knew how old she is but she was always acting more like a student than a teacher. She was in charge of most of the bigger and more official parties since her house was so big and she always said that it was better for the students to drink under supervision.

At first, they talked with some people and just hung around but then Ethari stated that he needs a drink and so they headed to the kitchen. Runaan went first but suddenly he stopped right in the door. Ethari didn't see that coming so he bumped to him.

“Hey! What's wrong?” Ethari called out.

“Shh,” Runaan slammed his hand on his mouth and nodded to something in the room. Ethari looked over his shoulder. Opeli, their always so serious friend, was now giggling while Corvus was kissing her neck. They both looked a bit tipsy but it didn't seem like just a casual hook up.

“Omg,” Ethari whispered, “they finally realized how perfect they would be together.”

“Yeah. I can't believe how long it took them. But we should probably go somewhere else. What about a dance?” Runaan suggested.

“You- you want to dance with me?” Ethari looked at him incredulously. He could've sworn Runaan blushed at that.

“I mean, we don't have to, if you don't want to.” He stared intensely at the ground.

“No!” Ethari yelped quickly. “I- I would love to.”

“Great, so um… Let's go?” He held out his hand which Ethari happily took.

They walked over to the dance floor and they started to move to the rhythm. For a while, they weren't saying anything and just enjoying the song and the closeness. And then a slow song came and suddenly they were so close Ethari almost forgot how to breathe. Runaan's hand on his hips, his breath on Ethari's cheek and his lips were so close he could just lean and… No. He can't do that. At least not here. As much as Ethari was a social butterfly, he didn't really like public displays of affection.

As if was Runaan reading his mind he suddenly leaned closer and whispered right to Ethari's ear, “Let's run away. The night is still young and I'm sure it'd be better anywhere but here.”

Ethari shivered because of his lips being so close but he nodded excitedly. Runaan took his hand and they pushed through the crowd to the entry. Ethari managed to catch Tiadrin's smirk and Lain winking at him but he didn't care. Because as much as he loved parties if he could pick between dozen of great parties and one time running away with Runaan holding his hand, he would always pick the boy.

When they stepped outside the cold fresh night air made Ethari realized how hot he was the whole time. And also how cold he was now. Runaan seemed to notice that so he threw an arm around him to warm him up. That made Ethari shiver even more but not from the cold.

“So… What are we gonna do now, that we ran from the party like Cinderella?” Ethari asked with a smirk on his lips.

“Well, I was thinking about going back to the campus… Taking my car… And… I don't know. Driving to the Neverland?” Runaan chuckled at the end.

“Sounds great. Let's go!”

“Wait really?”

“What, you didn't mean it?” Ethari looked confused a bit.

“No I- I didn't expect you to accept such a spontaneous offer.” Runaan scratched the back of his neck.

“Oh,” Ethari pouted tentatively. “You think I'm not a wild spirit? Me, the great party guy Ethari? I'm always down for something like this.”

“Okay, great party guy. Then let's go.” Runaan was now grinning widely.

They walked back to the dorms which were dead silent as everyone was at the party or sleeping. They tried to be silent but something on the whole thing made Ethari want to giggle. And he wasn't drinking. He was just high at the moment. Runaan excused himself and ran up to his room to get something. When he came back, he was holding his denim jacket.

“Here you go. You're shivering like a dog.” He handed it to Ethari.

“But- Aren't you gonna be cold? And I could've take mine,” Ethari was trying to hide how that gesture made the butterflies in his stomach fly wildly.

“Just take it.” Runaan's voice gave no exceptions so Ethari did as he was told and wow it was comfy. It was a bit big on him but it smelled like Runaan so he already knew he'll keep it as long he could. He looked up to said boy and saw him with a weird look on his face.

“What is it? Do I look dumb in it? Is there something on my face?” Ethari started to brush his cheeks in case there something actually was.

“What? No, there's nothing, it's just that you look… it really suits you,” he admitted while he looked everywhere but at him.

“Um, thanks,” Ethari cleared his throat awkwardly and shuffled his feet.  
It was silent for a few beats when Runaan blurted out, “Let's go, shall we?”

“Yeah.”

Both boys walked over to the parking lot to Runaan's car. It was light blue well kept Prius and it looked like Runaan was very fond of it.

“So,” Runaan clapped his hands when they both sat down and Ethari stopped looking through the car in silent wonder, “where do you wanna go?”

“I don't know. Surprise me,” Ethari smirked defiantly.

“You know you just gave me a free pass to kidnap you, right?” Runaan chuckled.

“That's what you have already done, didn't you? You kidnapped me from a party and made me go with you somewhere else,” the other boy argued.

“But you agreed!” Runaan defended himself.

“Yeah, you're right.” There was a beat of silence before he added in response to a sudden wave of bravery, “I wouldn't mind if you did though. Kidnap me, I mean.”

That left Runaan speechless before he turned back to the driving-wheel and without another word started the car. They quitted the college grounds and just drove in the silence of the night.

“So where are we going?” Ethari broke the silence.

“You said I should surprise so that's what I'm doing. Surprising you,” came in response.

“Oh… okay.” Ethari became silent and since Runaan didn't want to start a conversation either not another word was spoken between them.

After about five minutes, or it also could've been an eternity depending on Ethari's not too good sense of estimating the time, Runaan left the main road and turned to a smaller one which led uphill. He continued for another minute or two before he stopped.

“We're here,” he stated. They left the car and- wow. The view made Ethari's throat dry.

They were on a hill with bright green grass which looked a bit silver from the light of the moon shining bright. Under them was the city of Xadia peaceful in the middle of the night with distant sounds of traffic and the nightlife. Ethari could even see their college campus far on the east side of the city. It all looked so beautiful and… romantic. He couldn't stop the weird feeling in his stomach growing wider. Because something could happen between them.

“You like it?” Runaan asked quietly like he was worried he'd break the magic of the moment if he'd spoken louder.

“It's… incredible,” Ethari had to say. “How'd you find this place?”

“I- it was the place I escaped to when… when I remembered all the stuff about me being an unholy person for being who I am I was told when I was younger. I found it on one particular day when I just sat to the car and drove till I stopped here.” There was a dark shadow in his eyes and something in Ethari dropped.

Of course. That's why he never talked about his childhood and why he depended on Lain and Tiadrin so much. He was probably one of those unlucky children born to a nonaccepting family. Does that mean that there could be something between them?

Ethari didn't know what to do other than walk over the other boy and hug him. He stood still for a moment, it probably surprised him, but then he relaxed and leaned into the hug. They   
stood there for some time before Runaan slowly pulled away.

“Thanks,” he whispered. He nudged to the edge of the hill, “wanna sit? The view is even better there.”

Ethari nodded and resisted the urge to say that the view was already pretty awesome.

They sat down and just watched the city.

“You know… we never finished the twenty questions game,” Runaan suddenly blurted out.

“That's right… you wanna do that now?”

“Why not? We have all the time in the world,” he shrugged and leaned back on his hand.

“So… you wanna start?” Ethari tilted his head.

“Well, but I already know everything. You're a really entrusting person, you know. How about you're the one to start?” Runaan suggested.

“Okay but give me a second. I have to think about something…” he tapped his chin and went silent for a moment. Runaan looked at him amused. “Okay, I know the perfect one. What were you and Lain talking about before Nyx talked us into helping at the festival?”

Runaan looked confused for a few seconds but then his whole face brightened with realization. But a second later it also brightened with red.

“Um… you sure you want to know it?”

“Yep, pretty much sure.”  
“Well, but it's kinda embarrassing,” Runaan scratched the back of his neck.

“That's the whole point of playing this game, isn't it? Discovering the embarrassing details about each other,” Ethari smiled wide.

“If you say so… We were actually talking about you,” he admitted and blushed even more. Ethari's eyes widened but he continued, “You see, I have this huge crush on you and Lain likes to tease me about it and then he noticed you and he had great fun at the thought that you heard us, which I suppose you didn't because you asked, and I went all nervous and it's really embarrassing and now our friendship is probably ruined because you don't feel the same way and I said something I totally shouldn't and oh God.”

Ethari couldn't think properly and so he just stared at Runaan, who was now hiding his face in his hands. Because he likes him back. And that blabbering was just so adorable and… 

“I like you too,” Ethari blurted out. Because what was the point in hiding it now?

“You… what?” Runaan let his hands slip back to his lap.

“I have a big crush on you too. And have been for quite some time actually.” Ethari couldn't look him in the eyes. But when he let himself catch a glimpse of Runaan's face he saw only a pure disbelief and hope.

“Ethari?”

“Hm?”

“Can I kiss you now that…” he didn't get the chance to finish that sentence. Ethari already leaned closer and kissed him. And it felt… right. Like the time stopped, every riddle got solved, every misunderstanding cleared and there was a world peace. Runaan's lips were soft and fitted on Ethari's just perfectly. 

At first, the kiss was soft but every second it was becoming more thirsty like they were trying to make up for all the days the could have been kissing but they didn't know what they knew now.

They had to break it eventually to come for air but they still kept each other close.

“So… now you will go on that date with me?” Ethari asked with a soft smile on his lips.

“Of course. We have to make the fans happy, right?” Runaan chuckled.

“Right,” Ethari agreed and kissed him again. Because now he can.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I finally made it! This is the last chapter. I'm gonna add epilogue probably, because why not, but for the story, it's the end. And I'm happy with it so much you can't even imagine. It's not the best work I have ever written but I'm glad I did. It made me realize so many things about my writing and it made me overall improve a lot. So thank you everyone who read this. It means a lot. Stay safe everybody and have a wonderful day! <3


	7. Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just a lazy Saturday morning containing mostly just dialogue

The sun was shining bright and the birds were chirping happily. It was the start of another beautiful day. Runaan couldn't help but smile. Because no matter how similar this day was to the previous ones it was different in one thing. He and Ethari were finally together. Even the thought made the butterflies in his stomach tingle. Soren grumbled from the other bed.

“Can somebody turn off the light? It's too bright.”

“That's the sun, Soren. And even I can't turn that off. Maybe you shouldn't drink that much yesterday,” Runaan chuckled.

“But it was a party. I didn't have anyone to run away with like someone did,” Soren teased him and slowly got up from the bed. He frowned and headed straight towards the bathroom.

Runaan grinned and thanked silently to Opeli and Corvus and their make out in the kitchen which stopped him from drinking any alcohol. He was now fresh and ready for the day. He got up from the bed too and marched the room to the closet. He dressed up and then get to make his hair. He was just finishing when he heard a knock.

“Wakey, wakey, rise, and shine!” Ethari called from behind the door. Runaan's face brightened. He couldn't wait to see his now boyfriend. He quickly finished the braid and went to open the door.

“Good morning,” Runaan beamed at the short-haired boy.

“Hey,” Ethari smiled and looked him up and down.

“I didn't wake you up, I suppose.”

“No, Soren's angry mumbling about his hungover did,” Runaan laughed a bit.

“Oh. Well, good thing there were Opeli and Corvus. We should probably thank them for saving us before that,” Ethari suggested with a laugh.

“Yeah, we should. And also congratulate them for finally stopping being so blind.”

“Yeah. So… let's go?”

“Sure. Bye, Soren, get better soon!” Runaan called back to the room and then closed the door.

The two of them left the building and inhaled the fresh air. Runaan didn't see another person on the whole campus but he didn't mind. They had more time for themselves. And he also loved that lazy atmosphere of the Saturday morning.

“So… what's the plan?” Runaan asked after a moment.

“Well, I would go find some friendly souls to spend the time with if all of our friends didn't get too drunk yesterday. Not like I mind being just with you but I'd really like to know who's up,” he added when Runaan shot him a questioning look.

“You have too many friends. Some of them are definitely alive,” Runaan pointed out.

“That's right. Well, are we gonna go find them, or do you have different things in mind?”

“I have different things in mind every time I'm with you, but I don't think that would be appropriate to do right now.” Ethari blushed furiously and he slammed Runaan's shoulder. That made Runaan laugh out loud. He enjoyed how closer they were now but also how nothing that much changed. He just had a chance to say all the things he always wanted to and kiss Ethari as much as he pleased.

“There you are!” Tiadrin and Lain emerged from the corner.

“Oh, hey guys,” Runaan greeted.

“Hey,” Ethari did the same.

“What happened? Why are you both so red? And why do you look so… different?” Tiadrin squinted her eyes at them suspiciously.

“How do we look different?” Runaan looked confused at her.

“Runaan, dude, you're literally shining,” Lain stated with a stone face.

“I- what?” His confusion grew even wider while Ethari stood there trying not to laugh. It was just too amusing to see how oblivious they all are. Then he realized he probably acted just like that when he didn't know Runaan had a crush on him and the smile faded a little. But just a little.

“So what is it? What happened?” Tiadrin demanded answers.

“He's red because of his filthy mind,” Ethari couldn't help himself and speak up. Runaan shot him a smug grin and Tiadrin suddenly gasped.

“You!” she pointed her finger to them like she was accusing them of some crime. Everyone turned to her looking puzzled. “You two finally told each other, didn't you?” a smile brightened her face.

“What?” Lain wasn't catching up.

“We did, actually,” Runaan admitted happily.

“Oh my god, finally! You know what a hell it was watching you being so oblivious?” she hugged them both.

“Oh, I get it!” Lain suddenly spoke up and if this was a cartoon there would be a lightbulb above his head.

“You and Ethari are together, right? Man, I told you he had a thing for you!”

“Well yeah. I guess we were both pretty oblivious,” Ethari scratched the back of his neck.

“Kinda like you two at high school,” Runaan nodded towards Lain and Tiadrin with a grin.

“Hey! That wasn't like that at all. We-” Lain tried to defend himself.

“Yeah, yeah, sure,” Runaan cut him off.

“What do you think about a walk? We still have one secret to spill.”

“We have?” Ethari looked at him confused.

“We actually need to thank them,” Runaan talked while the four of them headed to the center of the whole festival which was now weirdly quiet.

“Ah, yeah,” Ethari's face brightened with understanding.

But before any of them managed to say anything else Corvus and Opeli showed up right in front of them walking hand in hand and laughing.

“Aaand we don't have a secret,” Runaan stated with disappointment in his voice.

“Wait, they are together? And you knew?” Tiadrin asked quietly.

“Yeah, we saw them yesterday in the kitchen,” Ethari explained quietly as well.

“Who are you talking about?” A girl with long dark hair appeared suddenly behind them. The group jumped with surprise.

“Claudia! Hi!” Ethari was the first to recognize her.

“Good morning,” she smiled, “so, who were you gossiping?”

“No-one,” Runaan said quickly.

“You sure? 'Cause I kinda don't believe you,” she responded.

“Oh, hi guys,” Opeli and Corvus had joined the group too.

“Well… this is a nice meeting,” Lain commented with a laugh.

“Yeah. We were actually just talking about you,” Tiadrin nodded to the couple.

“Oh?” Opeli raised an eyebrow.

“You're finally together, right?”

“Yeah. I suppose everyone knew we liked each other but us,” Corvus admitted.

“That's great! I'm happy for you,” Tiadrin beamed at them.

“What kind of meeting is this?” another voice came from behind them. Runaan turned around and saw Soren walking right to them looking like the worst of the hungover is behind him.

“Hey bro!” Claudia called out cheerfully.

“Ouch. Not that loud,” he hissed.

“Wow. Does anyone else want to join us? It looks like everyone who we meet joins us,” Ethari noted.

“Amaya and Janai could join,” Runaan suggested. And of course, Runaan had to laugh on the inside, the couple appeared out of nowhere.

Ethari had to facepalm. “This is unbelievable. We're literally starting another party here.”

 _What are you all doing here?_ Amaya signed.

“Honestly? No idea,” Corvus answered.

“Hey, how about we go make a little party of our own and maybe order some pizza?” Soren suddenly proposed.

“I didn't even have breakfast,” Claudia argued.

“And so what? We can do that. We're adults,” he threw his hands to the air.

“He's got a point,” Lain admitted.

“Right? Let's order some pizza and sat on the grass and have fun. We're probably the only people awake on the whole campus so let's use it,” Soren didn't want to drop his idea. And Runaan had to confess he liked it. The others agreed eventually too, even Claudia did. And so they ordered pizza, sat on a grass away from the festival and it was the best day Runaan ever had. And the fact that he and Ethari got to hold hands most of the time made it a hundred percent better.

_**End** _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's the end! Thank you all for reading this far, you have no idea how much it means to me <3 Stay safe everyone and have a wonderful day! <3


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